From left: Louise Hayward, Eliza Osborne, Nathalie Vranken, Sandra Hegedüs, Ryan Gander, Stanislas Thierry, Sally Tallant, Aurelie Vix, and Nicole Berry.
Photo: Teddy Wolff/courtesy of The Armory Show
The Armory Show Names Ryan Gander as the Inaugural Pommery Prize Winner
The $20,000 prize will be shared between the artist and Lisson Gallery
The Armory Show and Pommery Champagne have announced Ryan Gander’s Het Spel (My Neotonic Ovoid Contribution to Modernism) (2019), presented by Lisson Gallery, as the winner of the inaugural Pommery Prize, which will award $20,000 to be shared between the artist and the presenting gallery.
“I’m super humbled to receive this prize,” Ryan Gander said in a statement. “Het Spel is an attempt to reimagine history. What would the works of Georges Vantongerloo look like if the artist was alive today? This is my juvenile/playful contribution to modernism. Optimistic proof that the privilege of hindsight is as much in our imaginations as in history.”
Gander’s piece is part of the fair’s Platform section, which stages large-scale artworks, installations, and site-specific commissions.
Recommended: 10 Standout Booths from the 2019 Armory Show
In addition to the monetary award, Gander will have an opportunity to create a new work of art for an exhibition at Pommery Champagne’s venue in Reims, France.
Ryan Gander’s Het Spel (My Neotonic Ovoid Contribution to Modernism), 2019, presented by Lisson Gallery. Photo: Teddy Wolf
The jury for the 2019 Pommery Prize included Nathalie Vranken, an art patron and the owner of Champagne Pommery; Sandra Hegedüs, collector and founder of SAM Art Projects; and Marie Griffay, director of FRAC Champagne-Ardenne.
“We are thrilled to sponsor the Armory Show again and to enhance our continued commitment to the art world and carry on the legacy of Madame Pommery,” Nathalie Vranken said in a statement. “The Pommery Prize is the first of its kind, and the first time we have offered an opportunity like this to an artist to create a work of art to go on display at Champagne Pommery in Reims, France.”
Since its founding in 1994, the Armory Show has featured presentations by leading international galleries, innovative artist commissions, and dynamic public programs year after year. Staged on Manhattan’s Piers 90, 92, and 94, the fair runs through March 10.
Cover: From left: Louise Hayward, Eliza Osborne, Nathalie Vranken, Sandra Hegedüs, Ryan Gander, Stanislas Thierry, Sally Tallant, Aurelie Vix, and Nicole Berry.
Photo: Teddy Wolff/courtesy of The Armory Show
